Register for Emails

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the first presidential debate with President Barack Obama at the University of Denver, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Facebook’s U.S. Politics page stated at the conclusion of the debate that, “Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was the most mentioned term with 11 percent more mentions than President Barack Obama and ‘Obama’ had just 1.5 percent more mentions than ‘debate.’”

Romney’s debate performance brought admiration from supporters, and ignited fear from his opponents who were concerned with Obama’s lackluster performance.

The Facebook-CNN Elections Insights tool revealed, however, that more than half-a-million people mentioned Obama more than Romney in the lead up to the debate.

Romney took over the social media site, despite the fact that his online following pales in comparison to Obama’s. Romney’s Facebook page has just over 8 million “likes”, compared to Obama’s nearly 30 million “likes.”

Demographically, Romney dominated the conversation among Facebook users 55 years of age and older, while Obama captured the conversation of 18-24 year olds.